


The Dark Seeker

by ajwolf



Series: A Light in the Darkness [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Child Katsuki Yuuri, Don't copy to another site, Gen, Magical Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 00:54:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17478188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ajwolf/pseuds/ajwolf
Summary: Minako and Celestino were just lamenting the lack of anyreallyimpressive talent in this newest bunch of Magical students when a small boy named Katsuki Yuuri walked in.





	The Dark Seeker

**Author's Note:**

> Yuuri is 13 years old.
> 
> Beta by zupsgirl1!
> 
> Art by Clarinda!
> 
> Enjoy!

Minako leaned against the desk, jotting down a few notes on the paper at the top of the stack on her desk while Celestino worked to clean up the mess that had been left by the previous Initiate. 

“Not bad; not every water mage makes a puddle on the first try,” Celestino noted as he siphoned up the small pool of liquid that had gathered on the floor after the brief rainstorm.

“Yes, it wasn’t bad. We’ve seen better of course, but I suppose not everyone can be like Viktor Nikiforov and summon a full barrier without so much as an unlocking brand on their wrist.”

Celestino laughed as he closed his fist, the tattoos on his wrist dimming from their cheerful green tone they took when he activated his magic. “No, we certainly don’t. It’s hard to imagine that little devil is already going out on field missions. Seems like just yesterday he skipped in here, that hair of his flapping behind him as he came.”

Minako snorted into her fist at the memory. Viktor Nikiforov was the darling of the Light Guardians, but he had a tendency to drive his instructors mad. Yakov was constantly complaining about his star pupil causing him to lose what little hair he had left.

“Who’s next?” Celestino asked, coming back to the desk to look over their list.

“Katsuki, Yuuri,” Minako read off. “He must be related to Mari.”

“Oh lord, if he’s half the spitfire she is this place will never survive.”

Minako laughed and waved her purple tattoo-covered arm towards the door, opening it from across the room and making the boy standing beyond it jump in surprise. “Come on in, Yuuri!”

“Um, hai.” The boy practically whispered, jumping again when Minako closed the door behind him.

Celestino stepped forward with a big smile on his face. “Yuuri! Ciao Ciao! No need to be nervous. Don’t you want to find out what type of wizard you’ll be?”

Yuuri seemed at a loss for words for a moment, but steeled himself, nodding firmly. Minako smiled at him. “Do you have any guesses?” The magic in each of their students always showed itself in some ways before they came to the magical Headquarters for training. Sometimes they could attract animals or make little plants grow, so it was always worth asking so they might be prepared for whatever magic came out in this first exam.

Yuuri shook his head. “People say I might be a Spirit Mage though. They say I have a calming presence around me as if I’m clearing away any evil spirits.” He paused, biting his lip. “I’ve always wanted to be a Light Guardian though, like Viktor…”

Minako couldn’t help but smile at the gentle boy before her, so unlike his sister who’s earth magic had nearly brought down the building no less than 27 times. “Well how about we find out? I’m sure it will be a very pleasant sort of magic to match your aura, don’t you?”

Yuuri looked up at her, eyes wide and clear with curiosity and innocence. “You can see my aura?”

Celestino patted Yuuri gently on the head. “Of course! This room thins the barriers to your magic so we can start to get a glimpse of what you’ll become. Take a look at your hands and you’ll see a bit of your aura peaking out.”

Yuuri looked down, eyes and mouth wide in awe as he gazed at his fingertips which were glowing a sort of two-toned blue – darker near his skin, but nearly white at the edges. It was indeed a very calming effect.

“Wow, it’s so pretty.”

Minako agreed. “Shall we see what you’ll be able to do with it now?”

Yuuri nodded and Celestino directed him to the center of the room. “Now Yuuri,” he spoke in a quiet tone, “I want you to close your eyes. Good. Now, focus on yourself, think of your soul as a small box just waiting to be opened, like a present on your birthday. You want to know what’s inside it, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Yuuri whispered.

“Open it,” Celestino prompted.

The room went dark and Minako stiffened, unable to even see her hand in front of her face for a moment before dark purple flames suddenly sprouted from the floor where Yuuri had been. Had been because Yuuri was now floating several feet off the floor, his blue aura bursting to life all around him as black and purple spectral wings sprouted from his back, and great demonic claws encased his hands. His eyes were clouded over, nearly black, with the dark magical energy that was coursing out of him.

_ Holy shit. _

“V-very good, Yuuri.” Celestino stuttered, sounding just as surprised as Minako was by the overwhelming dark energy coming from the boy. 

It wasn’t evil energy — in fact, it was much the opposite. It was one of the rarest and purest of magical forms; the only one that could exterminate demons. 

“I think I know why the world around him seems peaceful,” Minako whispered.  _ He probably scares away every demon in a five-mile radius with that aura.  _ She could just see Celestino nod his head in the darkness. “You’ve done perfect, Yuuri. You can close the box back up now.”

The flames went out, room plunging into darkness for a split second once more before all the lights flickered back into existence. Minako blinked rapidly as her eyes adjusted back to the light.

“That was cool!” Yuuri said happily. “I don’t really know what happened but I felt so light and peaceful, and I could see  _ everything _ . Was that spirit magic?”

Celestino shook his head. “No Yuuri. And it wasn’t Light Guardian Magic either.”

Yuuri’s face fell. “Oh…”

Minako stepped forward. “You’re a Dark Seeker, Yuuri.”

Yuuri’s mouth fell open in surprise. “You mean...the demon hunters?”

Minako winced slightly. “That’s a rather crude way of putting it, but yes. I prefer to think of it as Yin, with Light Guardians being Yang.”

Yuuri quivered slightly. “So I’ll work with a Light Guardian...like Viktor...someday?”

“Oh I should say so,” Celestino said, and Minako cut him off before he said more.

“You will if you work very hard to master your magic. Viktor’s one of the best young Guardians we have, so you’ll have to do your best to stand beside him, won’t you?”

Yuuri nodded enthusiastically and Minako smiled kindly at him. Yuuri was already exceptionally gifted, but power like that could go to a child’s head. It was likely no one would know just how strong a Seeker he was until he did, in fact, form a partnership with some lucky Guardian. Being partnered with Viktor...it wasn’t out of the question. If anything it was setting his sights low. Yuuri could ask for Yakov himself to partner with him and the elder would unquestionably agree. 

Power like this needed to be nurtured so that one day it would blossom.

“Are you ready to gain your first spell?” Minako asked, reaching out and taking Yuuri’s arm in her own, flipping it so his forearm faced the ceiling. “As a Seeker you’ll have a familiar. I know you might not know what you’d like just yet, and if that’s the case we can wait–”

“No!” Yuuri said suddenly, looking a little embarrassed by his outburst. “I mean, no, I know what I want.”

Minako smiled once more as Yuuri fished into his pocket with his other hand, and blushing rather furiously, handed it over to Minako. It was a picture of Viktor from his very first year as an Initiate, back when he had only one tattoo and had still managed to win the school tournament. The rose and poodle tattoo glowed brightly on his arm as his familiar Makkachin pranced alongside him through the obstacle course. Their teamwork that day had been marvelous, and despite his novice skills at the time, Viktor and Makka had more than made up for it through teamwork alone.

“I’d like a poodle like Makka,” Yuuri whispered as Celestino leaned over Minako’s shoulder, grinning down at the photo. “She looks so pretty, and I hear she’s really friendly. I...I’m not very good at making friends, so I thought if I had a poodle like her, I wouldn’t be so lonely anymore.”

Minako felt her heart shatter and didn’t bother to resist the urge to gather Yuuri into her arms. “Don’t you worry, Yuuri; you’re going to have lots of friends here. In fact, I’ll make sure of it.”

Yuuri looked up at her questioningly. “You will?”

Minako nodded. “I might not be a Dark Seeker, but I can still tutor you in controlling and mastering your magic. From now on you’re my apprentice, and I’ll help you gain confidence in your magic so you can be the best Dark Seeker the world has ever seen.”

She could feel Celestino’s eyes on her back, questioning her silently, but she only had eyes for Yuuri. The boy’s eyes were bright with delight, obviously overjoyed that he had an ally. It was that hope that undoubtedly cracked Celestino’s resolve as well. 

“I’ll help too, Yuuri.” The instructor said lightly. “I’ll let Minako mentor you first, and then I’ll fix all her mistakes later!”

Minako used her power to toss a book right at Celestino’s head, earning her a delightful “ouch!” for her troubles.

“Now Yuuri, how big should we make your familiar?”

Yuuri looked back and forth at the photo, clearly trying to size it up. “Um,” he held out two fingers, placing them about three inches apart against his arm. “Maybe like this?”

Minako thought about telling Yuuri that Viktor’s tattoo was quite a bit larger, especially considering how much bigger the boy had been at Yuuri’s age, but maybe having his poodle be just a little different than Viktor’s wouldn’t be a bad thing. No need to make his hero worship  _ too _ obvious. 

“Alright then,” she said with a gentle pat as she pulled on Yuuri’s aura, carving that first, and most important spell into his skin. Yuuri tensed at the pain, but didn’t so much as whimper or even flinch in discomfort. He was going to be an amazing student.

Slowly the magic faded and Minako removed her hand, enjoying the awed look in Yuuri’s eyes as he looked down at the lightly glowing blue tattoo on his forearm. 

“Now, call your familiar forward. Give him his name so the two of you can begin to grow together.”

Yuuri’s eyes blazed with excitement. “Come to me, Vicchan,” he whispered with delight as the tiniest poodle Minako had ever seen burst into existence, leaping directly into Yuuri’s arms and licking his face. Yuuri let out several peals of giggling laughter as he pet his adorable, and rather wiggly, familiar. “He’s so little!”

“Yes, the tattoo size does affect that.”

Yuuri smiled, holding his familiar close. “That’s okay. He’s perfect.”

Celestino stepped forward, placing a hand on Yuuri’s back and leading him towards the door that would take Initiates into the true halls of learning where their magical lives would begin. “He is at that. I can tell already he’ll be a perfect partner for you.”

He set Yuuri off, introducing him to one of the older students, a boy named Christophe Giacometti who was two year’s older than Yuuri, to take Yuuri to the dormitories and give him a tour. Yuuri’s eyes were wide with excitement as he took in the room around him and Celestino closed the door.

“Well, we were  _ just _ complaining that we hadn’t seen any truly gifted students come in this year.”

Minako nodded, hand directing a pen over Yuuri’s form with inhuman speed. “I just worry what will happen when Viktor finds out about him.”

Celestino moaned. “Yakov’s going to definitely lose the rest of his hair.”

Minako smiled softly as she stared down at the photo of the small, nervous boy with more magical power than anyone she’d ever seen. “It’ll be worth it...He’ll be worth it.”

“Yes,” Celestino agreed. “I think he will be.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! There is at least one more part to this series, but I might do a couple more. Love my tattoo Wizard boys!


End file.
